Tampa's Florida Aquarium

[blackcloudmedia]

So my best friend just got married and I took him to Tampa for their cruise, and it happenned to be next to the Florida Aquarium. So for 75 bucks we checked it out. Ive been there before but it was a long time ago.

Obviously the Reefs section was the first we shot for (with my enthusiasm) and honestly it was a let down. There wasnt much literature on the walkthrough to explain coral reefs to the general public, and there werent many specimen tanks showing diversity of a coral reef. There were only about three tanks (none larger than 100 gallons) that were actually reef tanks. The rest used little to no lighting and fake corals. But I have to admit the three tanks that were there were nicely taken care of and had high difficulty fish in them i.e. Mandarins and Dragonetts.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

More including equipment above roof

 

[blackcloudmedia]

They had lots of Montipora (Caps and digitata) at the aquarium but acropora was hardly represented. As far as LPS and Leathers there were a few but you would find more variety in your local LFS

 

[blackcloudmedia]

I dont usually go around critiquing things or bashing aquariums ( I love the fact that they make this stuff basic for the public) but honestly I felt this was a letdown on the reefs side 75 bucks later. The gators were cool, the touch tank was cool....the goliath grouper was cool.....but the reefs.....eh.

 

[Mike612]

Well based on my aquarium visits the reefs are always the letdowns. If you pay to just see the reefs, you're basically paying $75 to see your own aquarium because there's nothing unique about theirs. They look the same as ours.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed, hell Steinhart's old digs at the temp location were kind of so-so as far as reefs/corals, there was one super nice large tank though that did have some corals (kind of looked like someone with a really big tank who threw a reef together), their fish exhibits were pretty much out there though, and this was a temp location.

Not to mention as often as that area is hit with hurricanes (I'm not mistaken am I?) it wouldn't surprise me that they don't have these huge grown out tanks etc.

Now my trip to the Maui Ocean Center that was reef worthy, but then again I'd probably classify that a little more tropical than is Florida. I might post pictures of it one day just for kicks and giggles.

I'm guessing $75 = 3 of you at $25 a pop? Sounds about right for a large aquarium (unsure how big that one is)... of course it could be a little tourist trap place like the one on Pier 39 here in SF.

Monterey Bay Aquarium, absolutely stunning place, but you won't see many corals, doesn't detract from the place one bit however.

 

[Ben1]

Nice post thanks for sharing. I have been to a lot of the east coast aquariums and some have nice reefs but all of them seem to have larger tanks with fake corals. They also all seem to have lots of school trips and kids getting in my way lol....